Dead fisherman washes up in Kuta

Dead fisherman washes up in Kuta

A fisherman, who reportedly went missing when a boat he was boarding with three other men sank Sunday, was found dead at Kuta Beach, Badung, on Monday at 5:20 a.m.

On Monday morning, Kuta Marine Police chief Adj. First Insp. Wismara Putra said the fisherman's body, identified as Kasri, 50, was stranded next to the Bali Garden Hotel, in the northern part of the popular Discovery Mall.

He said a trash picker initially saw a dead body floating close to shore and reported it to a police officer, who later checked it together with the beach's security guard and a lifeguard from Balawista.

"They monitored the floating body and waited until it approached the beach. We didn't pick it up on the sea due to bad weather," Wismara said.

He said the fisherman's family had arrived at the scene to identify the body and confirmed that Kasri, who hailed from Muncar, Banyuwangi, East Java, was their family member. The body was brought to the Sanglah Hospital's morgue.

He said three boats sailed from Tanah Lot, Tabanan regency, to Jimbaran, Badung regency, at around 4 a.m., with Kasri and his three fellow fishermen boarding the same boat.

"The three survivors said rough waves hit them and cracked the boat in the German Beach to the north of the airport. They managed to save their lives but lost Kasri," he said.

The fishermen rushed to report the accident to the Kedonganan marine police officers who later informed Wismara's station in Kuta to stay alert for any signs of the missing fisherman.

Beaches in Badung, including Kuta Beach, usually see rough waves from June to August, where tourists flock during holidays. However, water-related accidents, a lifeguard warned, did not only take place during these three months.

According to the data from the Kuta Balawista, 15 people died in water-related accidents in Badung, while 299 survived accidents last year.

In 2007, the number of survivors was slightly lower with 277 people rescued and 17 losing their lives.

"Of the 15 victims last year, one committed suicide and the rest died because of accidents -- including fishermen whose boats sank due to big waves, those who surfed without proper swimming skills and people who fished on the cliff and were swept away by sudden waves," Nyoman Puja, a lifeguard with Kuta Balawista told The Jakarta Post.

He said the accidents usually occurred at sites that were far from the rescue team's monitoring areas.

"That is why we warn tourists to swim between the two red-and-yellow flags, which are placed at six points on the Kuta Beach, so we can monitor them," he said.

The Balawista team has 16 posts in Pecatu, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua, Kuta, Seminyak, Kerobokan, Munggu and Cemagi beaches.

Indah Setiawati , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Tue, 01/06/2009 11:11 AM | Bali